Author: andys
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Live out of your imagination, not your history. —Stephen Covey
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Successful people are simply those with successful habits. – Brian Tracy
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Concept Wall
To start your collaborative brainstorming session, everyone writes or draws a few key concepts relating to the subject matter on sticky notes. Then put them up on the wall as stimulus for further brainstorming.
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Role Up
Give each person in the group a role to play such as the customer, the rebel, the narrator, the joker, the sage, the CEO, the shareholder, the lunatic, etc. Then give a scenario involving the product, problem, or situation to role play.
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Anonypost
Each person writes or draws a single idea per sticky note and puts it up on the wall in a separate room. Take turns nominating your favorite idea that wasn’t your own (and hasn’t yet been nominated) and explain why.
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Heads In The Cloud
Rather than verbal collaboration, use a cloud-based service like Google Docs with open sharing permissions so everyone can anonymously collaborate, comment, and build on each other’s ideas. Create a copy of the doc at schoolofthought.org/cloud
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Step Ladder
Everyone brainstorms individually. The first two people present ideas to each other. A third person is invited into the room to present their ideas. Repeat until everyone has presented unaffected by others’ ideas. Finally, recap all ideas for the group.
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Diverse Inputs
Creative insights often arise from novel perspectives, so try to facilitate diverse group dynamics e.g. put engineers with designers, management with front-line staff, and so on.
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Vote No To Bias
Our judgments are invariably shaped by our personal biases. So, it’s best to have discerning independent third parties evaluate anonymized ideas rather than a group vote.
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Brain Writing
Everyone writes an idea on a piece of paper. Pass your piece of paper clockwise, the next person builds on the idea. Repeat until everyone has contributed to each other’s ideas.